Cycles are repeating versions of Xalmyrra's history. The same people and events recur with differences, while darkness eventually consumes the inhabited land. The storms surrounding the region are connected to its confinement.
Memories and variations
The repetitions do not produce perfectly identical lives. After the Cataclysm, Aldar, Maelis and Kaelion remembered different versions of events, including an Eira who resembled the one they knew. Aldar understood the disaster as two cycles colliding and merging; their returned memories helped expose the repetition that the council had long suspected.
Crossing a cycle
Deylin survived the collapse of a dying Xalmyrra by blinking as the world came apart and holding the spell until it had passed. He emerged in green, inhabited lands with a younger body. Study of the region's history showed him that he had entered another cycle rather than simply returned to his own past.
Guided by a golden-haired mage, he repeated the crossing with another traveler. The person he carried had become a baby when they arrived. Deylin then lived much of his former life again, following instructions to keep events as close as possible to their earlier course.
Cycles are repeating versions of Xalmyrra's history. The same people and events recur with differences, while darkness eventually consumes the inhabited land. The storms surrounding the region are connected to its confinement.
Control and confinement
Xol'Zahir's shard controls the cycles, resetting Xalmyrra every few hundred years. The repetitions work without him continuously watching the region. The storms hinder escape.
Memories and variations
The repetitions do not produce perfectly identical lives. After the Cataclysm, people remembered different versions of events, particularly where their experiences had diverged. Ilyra remembered a life with Eira and another without her. Deylin explained that Eira's taking the shard had caused a previous cycle to collide with the new one.
The surrounding storms can erase an entrant's memories. Rhalyn forgot her time outside Xalmyrra when she returned, while Jin retained his memories under Tianlei's protection.
Crossing a cycle
Deylin survived the collapse of a dying Xalmyrra by blinking as the world came apart and holding the spell until it had passed. He emerged in green, inhabited lands with a younger body. This carried him into a new repetition, rather than simply back into his own past.
He later carried Cassian through a collapse. The crossing reduced Cassian to infancy, and Deylin repeated much of his life with Ilyra. Deylin thus lived through successive cycles while retaining his own continuity, unlike people who later recalled divergent versions of themselves.
The Xalmyrran cycles were repeating versions of Xalmyrra's history, maintained by Jorhan through two spiral shards. They enclosed the region behind storms and a veil, let darkness consume it, then recreated its lands and inhabitants. The cycles ended in the final confrontation with Jorhan.
The shards and the boundary
Jorhan's own shard controlled the storms and veil. A second shard, taken from Aldred and placed in a temple, remade Xalmyrra when darkness consumed it. Jorhan recreated the land as he remembered it, but could not restore everyone. Its renewed inhabitants were made from the shard's Essence.
The repeating population helped sustain the atraxi, who depended on a reservoir at Atraxis Prime. People entering Xalmyrra could become trapped in the same repetition. The surrounding storms kept its inhabitants confined, while the resets occurred every few hundred years without Jorhan continuously watching the region. The shards' power was immense but finite.
Memories and variations
The repetitions did not produce perfectly identical lives. After the Cataclysm, people remembered different versions of events, particularly where their experiences had diverged. Ilyra remembered a life with Eira and another without her. Deylin explained that Eira's taking the shard had caused a previous cycle to collide with the new one.
The surrounding storms could erase an entrant's memories. Rhalyn forgot her time outside Xalmyrra when she returned, while Jin retained his memories under Tianlei's protection.
Crossing a cycle
Deylin survived the collapse of a dying Xalmyrra by blinking as the world came apart and holding the spell until it had passed. He emerged in green, inhabited lands with a younger body. This carried him into a new repetition, rather than simply back into his own past.
He later carried Cassian through a collapse. The crossing reduced Cassian to infancy, and Deylin repeated much of his life with Ilyra. Deylin thus lived through successive cycles while retaining his own continuity, unlike people who later recalled divergent versions of themselves.
Following Hrzai's instructions, Thalena held a blink through the collapse between Xalmyrra-10 and Xalmyrra-11, the final Xalmyrran cycle. She emerged as a child. Hrzai explained that holding the blink longer had carried her farther back in age; her body had to realign within Xalmyrra.
History
Jorhan's reconstruction
Jorhan devastated Xalmyrra and defeated Aldred, acquiring his shard. He then restored Irrathis and the surrounding lands, giving their inhabitants renewed lives while securing Essence for his people. Belanor watched this restoration and later traveled between Xalmyrra and Atraxis Prime to monitor the region.
In an earlier cycle, Belanor told Kaldramir about the cycles, prompting the War of Scars. When Belanor did not make that visit in the final Xalmyrran cycle, Thalena told Kaldramir herself, and the war followed.
Hrzai sought a way to free Xalmyrra. She guided Deylin and Eira, while Thalena helped preserve the sequence of events that would lead to the final confrontation. Thalena instructed Hrzai to have Deylin carry Cassian through the collapse.
End of the cycles
During the final confrontation, Jorhan released the confinement spell while fighting Kaelion and Aurion. Thalena entered afterward. By the end of her battle with him, Xalmyrra was free of the repeating confinement. The fighting also devastated much of the region and destroyed Dravemir.
The Xalmyrran cycles were repeating versions of Xalmyrra's history, maintained by Jorhan through two spiral shards. They enclosed the region behind storms and a veil, let darkness consume it, then recreated its lands and inhabitants. The cycles ended in the final confrontation with Jorhan.
The shards and the boundary
Jorhan's own shard controlled the storms and veil. A second shard, taken from Aldred and placed in a temple, remade Xalmyrra when darkness consumed it. Jorhan recreated the land as he remembered it, but could not restore everyone. Its renewed inhabitants were made from the shard's Essence.
The repeating population helped sustain the atraxi, who depended on a reservoir at Atraxis Prime. People entering Xalmyrra could become trapped in the same repetition. The surrounding storms kept its inhabitants confined, while the resets occurred every few hundred years without Jorhan continuously watching the region. The shards' power was immense but finite.
Memories and variations
The repetitions did not produce perfectly identical lives. After the Cataclysm, people remembered different versions of events, particularly where their experiences had diverged. Ilyra remembered a life with Eira and another without her. Deylin explained that Eira's taking the shard had caused a previous cycle to collide with the new one.
The surrounding storms could erase an entrant's memories. Rhalyn forgot her time outside Xalmyrra when she returned, while Jin retained his memories under Tianlei's protection.
Orin, the founder of Thalassai, became trapped in the cycles when he returned to Xalmyrra. His memories were wiped, then began to return after the cycles ended.
Crossing a cycle
Deylin survived the collapse of a dying Xalmyrra by blinking as the world came apart and holding the spell until it had passed. He emerged in green, inhabited lands with a younger body. This carried him into a new repetition, rather than simply back into his own past.
He later carried Cassian through a collapse. The crossing reduced Cassian to infancy, and Deylin repeated much of his life with Ilyra. Deylin thus lived through successive cycles while retaining his own continuity, unlike people who later recalled divergent versions of themselves.
Following Hrzai's instructions, Thalena held a blink through the collapse between Xalmyrra-10 and Xalmyrra-11, the final Xalmyrran cycle. She emerged as a child. Hrzai explained that holding the blink longer had carried her farther back in age; her body had to realign within Xalmyrra.
History
Jorhan's reconstruction
Jorhan devastated Xalmyrra and defeated Aldred, acquiring his shard. He then restored Irrathis and the surrounding lands, giving their inhabitants renewed lives while securing Essence for his people. Belanor watched this restoration and later traveled between Xalmyrra and Atraxis Prime to monitor the region.
In an earlier cycle, Belanor told Kaldramir about the cycles, prompting the War of Scars. When Belanor did not make that visit in the final Xalmyrran cycle, Thalena told Kaldramir herself, and the war followed.
Hrzai sought a way to free Xalmyrra. She guided Deylin and Eira, while Thalena helped preserve the sequence of events that would lead to the final confrontation. Thalena instructed Hrzai to have Deylin carry Cassian through the collapse.
End of the cycles
During the final confrontation, Jorhan released the confinement spell while fighting Kaelion and Aurion. Thalena entered afterward. By the end of her battle with him, Xalmyrra was free of the repeating confinement. The fighting also devastated much of the region and destroyed Dravemir.
The Xalmyrran cycles were repeating versions of Xalmyrra's history, maintained by Jorhan through two spiral shards. They enclosed the region behind storms and a veil, let darkness consume it, then recreated its lands and inhabitants. The cycles ended in the final confrontation with Jorhan.
The shards and the boundary
Jorhan's own shard controlled the storms and veil. A second shard, taken from Aldred and placed in a temple, remade Xalmyrra when darkness consumed it. Jorhan recreated the land as he remembered it, but could not restore everyone. Its renewed inhabitants were made from the shard's Essence.
The repeating population helped sustain the atraxi, who depended on a reservoir at Atraxis Prime. People entering Xalmyrra could become trapped in the same repetition. The surrounding storms kept its inhabitants confined, while the resets occurred every few hundred years without Jorhan continuously watching the region. The shards' power was immense but finite.
Memories and variations
The repetitions did not produce perfectly identical lives. After the Cataclysm, people remembered different versions of events, particularly where their experiences had diverged. Ilyra remembered a life with Eira and another without her. Deylin explained that Eira's taking the shard had caused a previous cycle to collide with the new one.
The surrounding storms could erase an entrant's memories. Rhalyn forgot her time outside Xalmyrra when she returned, while Jin retained his memories under Tianlei's protection.
Orin, the founder of Thalassai, became trapped in the cycles when he returned to Xalmyrra. His memories were wiped, then began to return after the cycles ended.
Crossing a cycle
Deylin survived the collapse of a dying Xalmyrra by blinking as the world came apart and holding the spell until it had passed. He emerged in green, inhabited lands with a younger body. This carried him into a new repetition, rather than simply back into his own past.
He later carried Cassian through a collapse. The crossing reduced Cassian to infancy, and Deylin repeated much of his life with Ilyra. Deylin thus lived through successive cycles while retaining his own continuity, unlike people who later recalled divergent versions of themselves.
Following Hrzai's instructions, Thalena held a blink through the collapse between Xalmyrra-10 and Xalmyrra-11, the final Xalmyrran cycle. She emerged as a child. Hrzai explained that holding the blink longer had carried her farther back in age; her body had to realign within Xalmyrra.
History
Jorhan's reconstruction
Jorhan devastated Xalmyrra and defeated Aldred, acquiring his shard. He then restored Irrathis and the surrounding lands, giving their inhabitants renewed lives while securing Essence for his people. Belanor watched this restoration and later traveled between Xalmyrra and Atraxis Prime to monitor the region.
In an earlier cycle, Belanor told Kaldramir about the cycles, prompting the War of Scars. When Belanor did not make that visit in the final Xalmyrran cycle, Thalena told Kaldramir herself, and the war followed.
Hrzai sought a way to free Xalmyrra. She guided Deylin and Eira, while Thalena helped preserve the sequence of events that would lead to the final confrontation. Thalena instructed Hrzai to have Deylin carry Cassian through the collapse.
End of the cycles
During the final confrontation, Jorhan released the confinement spell while fighting Kaelion and Aurion. Thalena entered afterward. By the end of her battle with him, Xalmyrra was free of the repeating confinement. The fighting also devastated much of the region and destroyed Dravemir.
Thalena's part in the past
Thalena later helped Amos send information six millennia into the past on the planet Atraxis Prime Alpha. She knew that completing this task would doom her own world to Jorhan's cycles, yet carried it out in exchange for Amos's loyalty. Her actions were therefore involved in the history that had confined Xalmyrra, as well as in its eventual release.
The Xalmyrran cycles were repeating versions of Xalmyrra's history, maintained by Jorhan through two spiral shards. They enclosed the region behind storms and a veil, let darkness consume it, then recreated its lands and inhabitants. The cycles ended in the final confrontation with Jorhan.
The shards and the boundary
Jorhan's own shard controlled the storms and veil. A second shard, taken from Aldred and placed in a temple, remade Xalmyrra when darkness consumed it. Jorhan recreated the land as he remembered it, but could not restore everyone. Its renewed inhabitants were made from the shard's Essence.
The repeating population helped sustain the atraxi, who depended on a reservoir at Atraxis Prime. People entering Xalmyrra could become trapped in the same repetition. The surrounding storms kept its inhabitants confined, while the resets occurred every few hundred years without Jorhan continuously watching the region. The shards' power was immense but finite.
Memories and variations
The repetitions did not produce perfectly identical lives. After the Cataclysm, people remembered different versions of events, particularly where their experiences had diverged. Ilyra remembered a life with Eira and another without her. Deylin explained that Eira's taking the shard had caused a previous cycle to collide with the new one.
The surrounding storms could erase an entrant's memories. Rhalyn forgot her time outside Xalmyrra when she returned, while Jin retained his memories under Tianlei's protection.
Orin, the founder of Thalassai, became trapped in the cycles when he returned to Xalmyrra. His memories were wiped, then began to return after the cycles ended.
Crossing a cycle
Deylin survived the collapse of a dying Xalmyrra by blinking as the world came apart and holding the spell until it had passed. He emerged in green, inhabited lands with a younger body. This carried him into a new repetition, rather than simply back into his own past.
He later carried Cassian through a collapse. The crossing reduced Cassian to infancy, and Deylin repeated much of his life with Ilyra. Deylin thus lived through successive cycles while retaining his own continuity, unlike people who later recalled divergent versions of themselves.
Following Hrzai's instructions, Thalena held a blink through the collapse between Xalmyrra-10 and Xalmyrra-11, the final Xalmyrran cycle. She emerged as a child. Hrzai explained that holding the blink longer had carried her farther back in age; her body had to realign within Xalmyrra.
History
Jorhan's reconstruction
Jorhan devastated Xalmyrra and defeated Aldred, acquiring his shard. He then restored Irrathis and the surrounding lands, giving their inhabitants renewed lives while securing Essence for his people. Belanor watched this restoration and later traveled between Xalmyrra and Atraxis Prime to monitor the region.
In an earlier cycle, Belanor told Kaldramir about the cycles, prompting the War of Scars. When Belanor did not make that visit in the final Xalmyrran cycle, Thalena told Kaldramir herself, and the war followed.
Hrzai sought a way to free Xalmyrra. She guided Deylin and Eira, while Thalena helped preserve the sequence of events that would lead to the final confrontation. Thalena instructed Hrzai to have Deylin carry Cassian through the collapse.
End of the cycles
During the final confrontation, Jorhan released the confinement spell while fighting Kaelion and Aurion. Thalena entered afterward. By the end of her battle with him, Xalmyrra was free of the repeating confinement. The fighting also devastated much of the region and destroyed Dravemir.
Thalena's part in the past
Thalena later helped Amos send information six millennia into the past on the planet Atraxis Prime Alpha. She knew that completing this task would doom her own world to Jorhan's cycles, yet carried it out in exchange for Amos's loyalty. Her actions were therefore involved in the history that had confined Xalmyrra, as well as in its eventual release.
Recreation at Cyndarel
After the Xalmyrran cycles had ended, Aldar used his shard to recreate a cycle and veil around Cyndarel during the Battle for Cyndarel. It isolated Raphael's forces inside the city and kept reinforcements from entering. Concentrating the effects on a smaller area made the boundary especially dangerous.
Crossing could erase memories, including a mage's knowledge of spells, and even shard wielders faced that risk. Aldar did not fully understand Jorhan's spell, so its consequences could threaten his own side. This local recreation did not restore the former cycles across Xalmyrra.